Airhead compost toilet install

[Jnitti1014]

I’m going to be installing an airhead on my 2002 26x. What’s the best way to install the brackets? Screw down, rivet, or 4200? If I screw it down, is there the ballast tank underneath to worry about?

[Chinook]

I drilled through the floor in the head and screwed them in with self tapping screws. The porta-pottie our boat came with had brackets screwed like that into the floor, so there are no worries about using self tapping screws. The head, including floor, is a liner unit which sits above the ballast tanks. To be safe, I would use screws no longer than half inch. By the way, on my installation, I already had a Nicro-vent solar powered fan installed on the small lexan window in the head area, set to blow out (another Nicro-vent fan is mounted on the forward hatch, set to blow in). I was able to install the ventilation fan which the Air Head comes with, by adapting directly onto the Nicro-vent. I powered the fan that the Air Head comes with off of the wiring to the light fixture in the head. Also, I installed an on/off switch to the Air Head fan, so it only runs when I want it to. When the solar vent fan is running, I turn the battery powered fan off, and I only run it when the solar fan loses its charge (cloudy weather, or sun not on the right side of the boat). The Air Head fan doesn't draw much, but I like to save battery power whenever I can.

[Jnitti1014]

I drilled through the floor in the head and screwed them in with self tapping screws. The porta-pottie our boat came with had brackets screwed like that into the floor, so there are no worries about using self tapping screws. The head, including floor, is a liner unit which sits above the ballast tanks. To be safe, I would use screws no longer than half inch. By the way, on my installation, I already had a Nicro-vent solar powered fan installed on the small lexan window in the head area, set to blow out (another Nicro-vent fan is mounted on the forward hatch, set to blow in). I was able to install the ventilation fan which the Air Head comes with, by adapting directly onto the Nicro-vent. I powered the fan that the Air Head comes with off of the wiring to the light fixture in the head. Also, I installed an on/off switch to the Air Head fan, so it only runs when I want it to. When the solar vent fan is running, I turn the battery powered fan off, and I only run it when the solar fan loses its charge (cloudy weather, or sun not on the right side of the boat). The Air Head fan doesn't draw much, but I like to save battery power whenever I can.

Nice. How do you like the airhead so far? Any tips or tricks?

[Bilgemaster]

There's a nice little article about the Airhead toilet in the September/Octoner 2011 issue of Good Old Boat magazine.

Not that it matters overly much to me way down here in Virginia, where a leaky Walmart bag over an old mayonnaise bucket might do, but I wonder if having such a zero discharge head might suffice for complying with Canadian or other international requirements, especially for inland waterways like the Great Lakes. The slapdash research I've done revealed this 5 year old thread from The TugNuts forum. There is also this decade-old thread on SailNet (see especially its posting no. 18). From what I can gather, in the case of Canada it's province by province and largely comes down to 1) how the head's "permanently attached", and most importantly 2) the mood of the law enforcement officer in question...


"Yah. lt all looks legal to me, Eh."

Anyhow, just thought I'd "plop" this out there for the benefit of our international or international-bound compadres.

[Gazmn]

Congrats on the composting toilet. My Nature's Head is one of my top 5 best mods. Easy Peasy

[ris]

We like our natures head also. If you pull the liner in the table bench seat right in front of the head, then stick your head down you can see under the head. For sure use very short screws. We have a 2003 X. We put a 12 volt plug between the head and the bench seat liner so we could plug the fan on the natures head to 12 volt. We put our vent in the plexiglass window in the head so we did not have to put another hole in the liner. If the next person wants to remove the toilet all they have to replace is the window where the mushroom vent it. or they can put a power vent in the hole.
Bilge Master there are lots of boats that go through the great lakes with composting heads. They just do not want you to inadvertently dump your pooh overboard so you have to lock it out. To dump overboard all you have to do is remove the lock, dump then lock it back up. So it easier to dump overboard illegally with a regular marine head than a composting head. I have even heard people say composting heads are illegal in Florida keys. There are a lot of boats in Florida and the keys with composting heads.

[whgoffrn]

I dunno but I've always found it odd how our gov dumps tons of chemicals into our waters and aluminum by products (flouride) in our drinking water yet we can't drop the same feces and urine that all of the other animals drop in our waters ..... definately not a rule i follow

[Tomfoolery]

Bilge Master there are lots of boats that go through the great lakes with composting heads. They just do not want you to inadvertently dump your pooh overboard so you have to lock it out. To dump overboard all you have to do is remove the lock, dump then lock it back up.

FWIW, my FIL got a fine in Lake Champlain (don't know if it was Vermont, New York, or Quebec though) because his macerator discharge hose wasn't disconnected and capped, including the thru-hull ball valve. The dude that gave him the ticket told him that he had to be able to pass his hand between the thru-hull and the holding tank plumbing.

If he hand't had the ball valve "off" and locked, he would have gotten a BIG fine. As it is, it only cost him a couple of hundred. Cheap considering what could have happened. Just locking out and/or taking off the ball valve handle wasn't enough, apparently.

That's Lake Champlain, not the Great Lakes, though. But I do know Ontario Province is pretty fussy about their lake water, and they don't allow porta-potties. Mine is an MSD version, with pumpout and vent, so I hope I don't get gigged when on that side. The way it's written, you're required to have an MSD. Which it technically is. And porta-potties are not allowed. Which it also technically is. So maybe I can talk my way out of a ticket if boarded, though I've never even seen a marine police or coast guard vessel when I've been there. So here's to keeping my fingers crossed.

[1st Sail]

I spoke with AirHead at Strictly Sail Chicago this year. The factory rep stated the AirHead was legal in Canada. But then he wanted to sell me one at the show. I'm inclined to think they may not be legal based on the links posted. Unless there has been an update that we have not discovered.

[Seapup]

I bit the bullet on a used natures head a few weeks ago....Looks like new, but still a bit odd buying a used toilet! Installed it but no verdict yet.

[Jimmyt]

Spritz it good with bleach and hose it out... Then, forget it. Surely you've used a public toilet before. I guarantee that one owner used toilet is a lot cleaner! Next you'll be getting skivvies at the thrift store...

[dlandersson]

Please be careful when throwing around the term "airhead" - some of us might think you're talking about us.

I’m going to be installing an airhead on my 2002 26x. What’s the best way to install the brackets? Screw down, rivet, or 4200? If I screw it down, is there the ballast tank underneath to worry about?

[Ixneigh]

These things don't compost to the point of final compost that you could use on the shrubbery out front. I think that's the issue. They seem to mix the pooh with a fluffer to help it dry and bulk it up, but real complete compost takes about a year.
My dad built a large composting toilet at his place. It works very well but it's the size of a small shed 12 feet tall and has a 40 watt solar running a fan all day. The final product looks and smells like soil. They spread it in the woods near by since human feces has trace heavy metals and other junk due to our modern lifestyle. To fully process the airhead product, one would need to put it in a ventilated container like a 5 gallon bucket for a year or two.
As well as the large composting toilet which is set up away from his house, my dad also has a smaller indoor system that separates the pee. The pooh gets placed into an oiled paper bag (I think they use crisco) and that goes into a plastic barrel via a pvc pipe. The barrel has a vent stack but nothing else. It takes about two years to decompose after they swap it out for a new one.
On my boat I've been using a plastic bag with a bit of bleach or marine head natural chemical (west sells it)
I use lots of TP to as as the bulking agent, and tie the bag twice. I throw it away in the regular trash. West also sells a "toilet in a bag" pack but those are expensive if you use them a lot, and essentially the same thing.
For week end use where the waste bin doesn't need to emptied but once a season these mini composting toilets look great. But for full time use the waste doesn't have enough time to decay into real compost.

Ix

[Bobglas]

Bought the boat w/ a 5 gal. msd porta potty. Wife hated it so installed a Natures head using the pump out hole for the vent (deck level, aft in the head compartment). Installed a 50 watt panel so the little motor doesn't drain the batteries. We use paper lunch bags for the TP and they go in the trash. Preloaded coffee cups w/ peat moss added to the what's deposited (1/2 cup as a flush before cranking). Spray bottle scented water to spritz away anything left in the bowl. Works great. Lasts all summer. In September after the last trip I empty the contents in the woods, no smell, looks like soil. Hose clean the insides and I'm ready for the next year. 4 years so far, very happy.

[ris]

We used the natures head for almost 9 months, every day. Even tho it is called a composting toilet, it will not turn pooh into compost for the garden in 3 weeks. 3 weeks is how often we had to empty the natures head. When you dispose of it dump it in a small trash bag and just throw it in the trash like it is a disposable baby diaper. You can also bury it if you are way out there in the wilds. We always emptied ours when we were at a marina. The great thing is empty every 3 weeks for 2 people and the only smell is an earthy smell. Not that awful port-a-potty smell.